When It Melts

Sweet, sunny nostalgia is polluted by painful memories in this dark drama about a woman who returns to the village she grew up in to confront what was done to her as a child.

Eva leads a withdrawn life, her only meaningful relationship being the one she has with her sister. An invite to a memorial party for a childhood friend brings her back to the summer after he passed when she was thirteen and part of a tightly knit trio with two boys her age. The summer it all fell apart. With a block of ice in the back of her car she returns to the village that betrayed her back then, ready to face the past.

Based on a novel by Lize Spit, When It Melts is an unrelentingly bleak portrayal of childhood trauma and the scars it leaves behind. Rosa Marchant, who portrays the thirteen-year-old Eva, was awarded a Special Jury Award for Best Performance at this year’s Sundance.

«Though the thematic realms of female adolescence, nascent sexuality, familial strife, and generational trauma have all been well-explored, Baetens’s cinematic brush paints them with a fresh hue, casting it in a rare space between raw provocation and bracing warmth.»
– Prabhjot Bains, Tilt Magazine –

Jenny Lund

Director

Veerle Baetens (b. 1978) is a Belgian actress, singer, writer, and director. She is best known for her role in The Broken Circle Breakdown (2013), earning her the Best Actress awards at Tribeca Film Festival and the European Film Awards. When It Melts is her directorial debut.

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